This invention relates generally to automating the production provisioning process for distribution of wireless radiotelephone handsets, and particularly to a system to production provision handsets to meet customer specifications for handsets and communication services. The systems especially limit the need for human interfacing in the process and provide automated quality assurance to control product quality.
Rapid growth has characterized various telecommunication industries, most especially the mobile telephone industry. Because of this rapid growth, there are now many different manufacturers of the radiotelephone handsets used in the mobile phone industry. In addition to the multiple manufacturers, there are also multiple service providers or carriers. To further complicate matters, each carrier can use a different and incompatible mobile phone technology to power its network. Today, there are approximately 10 radiotelephone handset manufacturers, at least 4 major service providers or networks and more than 100 smaller networks, and at least 4 different technologies for mobile phones. This makes it especially complicated to properly provision phones in the production thereof with all of the necessary information required by either the radiotelephone handset seller or the service provider.
Manufacturing technology steadily expands the numbers of handset models and arrays of selectable handset features. Similarly, telecommunication service providers adapt features of broadcast systems and business practices to accommodate available hardware features, including differentiating services based on geographic and temporal factors. The services must address both legacy hardware and newly emerging hardware. Further, distributors of handset packages and service agreements order a wide diversity of handsets and service options to sell, based on marketing needs.
Radiotelephone handsets are typically provisioned at different stages in manufacture, distribution, and use to install data for phone operation with diverse service network functions. A provisioning process is, in part, a sequence of operations for encoding reference data and program routines into radiotelephone handsets (hardware). This enables and authorizes the handsets to communicate via one or more telecommunication systems (services), and makes available handset features for the user to access service features. Provisioning typically requires different processes specific to many different hardware types and service systems, and each provisioning process is typically done piecemeal. Therefore, the work of provisioning is complex and demanding of key resources, especially of human direction and input. Provisioning steps typically occur in vendor factories, in service centers, and at distributor outlets, culminating in some tasks required of the user, i.e. the ultimate customer.
Accordingly, methods and systems are highly valued that can improve provisioning efficiencies while accommodating ongoing changes in the process. U.S. Pat. No. 5,603,084 to Henry, U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,028 to Chang, U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,191 to Gerszberg, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,954 to Cannon each teach systems for remote, one-on-one programming of radiophones, for use at point-of-sale by a retailer or post-sale by an end-user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,740 to Ellis provides a mechanical device programmed to physically enter key strokes into handsets for selecting phone and carrier features.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,926,756 to Piosenka, U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,311 to Lipsit, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,487,403 to Carroll each provide computer-controlled, one-on-one programming of telecommunication devices for network operation at their points-of-sale.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,029,143 and 6,393,408 to Mosher and U.S. Pat. No. 5,887,253 to O'Neil teach systems to inventory and distribute pre-packaged and/or pre-programmed phone sets for various manufacturing vendors and cellular service providers. Additionally, the Mosher patents disclose the possibility of a programming step as part of the inventory and distribution system.
The art recognizes two distinctly different types of provisioning: production provisioning and service provisioning. A raw unit from the equipment manufacturer usually does not have any of the basic network settings loaded that are necessary to communicate with the particular network. Production provisioning is the process of loading settings that include at least the basic settings into a raw unit from the equipment manufacturer. Service provisioning encompasses the setup of a given device, previously production provisioned, for use in a network. For service provisioning, the unit already contains basic settings that allow basic communication within the network prior to service provisioning. Without first completing production provisioning, a unit cannot receive service provisioning data from the network service, for example in over-the-air programming and activation (OTAPA), due to the unit not having the basic settings necessary for network communication.
The equipment manufacturer builds a unit to various specifications. The configuration generally depends on who is buying the handset. A major service provider typically purchases handsets directly from a manufacturer pre-loaded with the network settings. In this case, the handset will work on the cellular network without any further programming required. These units may be packaged in the network's marketing package, and distributed with the network's literature and other ancillary items that may be deemed required by the service provider. Some of these ancillary items may include a welcome guide, a network branded communication device, and adapter for charging a battery in a motor vehicle, a large battery, or any other items that the network may desire in the retail package.
Smaller service providers do not usually have the buying power of larger networks to deal directly with the manufacturer for new wireless devices. These smaller networks may buy their units from distribution centers that may in turn purchase units directly from the manufacturer with manufacturer default settings. The units procured by the distribution center are considered to be ‘generic.’ A generic unit does not contain any or enough of the settings that are required for basic communication within a network, and will not be capable of receiving OTAP service provisioning. These wireless devices will not work on any network, no matter what the size of the network, without first completing the production provisioning process and being programmed with the basic network settings.
Distribution centers may buy large quantities of wireless devices from the manufacturer with default settings. The distributors then program a number of these generic wireless devices for a specific cellular network. Only then are these wireless devices capable of being used on that specific cellular network.
As mentioned, production provisioning is the process of loading the required settings into a generic unit for use in a specific network environment. These settings are determined by the network. The settings are then used to create specific software packages for the unit. These software packages are then loaded into the generic unit, making the unit ready for use in the network. If desired, production-provisioned units are capable of receiving network service provisioning as may be required by the network, however, in general smaller networks do not use OTAPA so it would be advantageous to load all or at least most of the settings desired by the network service provider at the same time as the basic settings are loaded, i.e. during the production provisioning process.
Each cellular network has its own unique set of network parameters. The settings of one network will not work on another network because the settings are not compatible with any other network. Even seemingly simple processes like OTAPA require the handset to first have the minimum cellular network settings, for the given cellular network, pre-loaded into the handset. Generic devices cannot be provisioned via OTAPA.
Wireless devices, once programmed and activated, have the ability to utilize many of the cellular networks around the country. This is accomplished with a predefined roaming file (Preferred Roaming List or PRL) that is developed based upon agreements between the local cellular network and other cellular networks. The roaming list is a unique set of instructions for each cellular network, and must be programmed into the handset as one of the initial network programming parameters.
Below Table A lists some typical hypothetical settings that are required to be in a handset for the handset to fully communicate with any cellular network, especially the NAM settings and the PRL settings. Without these settings, the handset will only be able to place calls to 911. The handset can neither receive OTAPA programming, nor be activated remotely.
TABLE AExamples of Basic Settings in Wireless DevicesSettingsNetwork ANetwork BNetwork CSectionGenericLargeSmallSmallNumber Assignment Module (NAM)MINESN BasedESN BasedXXX0000000XXX0000000MDNESN BasedESN BasedXXX0000000XXX0000000SIDXXX72XXXO4XXX22XXX25Preferred Roaming List (PRL) IdentificationVersion NumberXXX01XXX11XXX10XXX01Multimedia Message Service (MMS)Service NameMMSXXAXXBXXCServer NameXXXXXXXXXXXXMax Message Size0X58400X00000X58400National AgentNone11N/AHTTP HeaderXXX_MDN:XXX_MDN:XXX_MDN:XXX_MDN:BrowserProxy NameNoneXXXYYYZZZService TypeWAPHTTPWAPHTTPPort0808080809401Gateway Address0.0.0.0NoneXXX.99.231.135XXX.168.116.61ProxyHTTP basicNoneHTTP basicNoneauthenticationHome Page URLNonehttp://homepageXhttp://homepageYhttp://homepageZBinary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW)ADS TypeCommercialCommercialCommercialCommercialCarrier ID01D11D21D3DNS IP Primary0.0.0.066.174.3.XXX65.162.110.XXX66.60.13XXXaddressADS CommercialNoneserverXXX.comserverXXX.comserverXXX.comServer URLADS Test ServerNoneserverXXX.comserverXXX.comnone
There remains in the field a need for an improved system to production provision radiophone handsets with data and programs for activation and operation. The improved system would desirably provide more automation and less human interaction while still maintaining the ability to production provision handsets made by a variety of manufacturers for use by many different service providers.